1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to memory manage and, more specifically, to increasing the memory capacity of a frame buffer via a memory splitter chip.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventional graphics processing systems usually include a graphics processing unit (GPU) coupled to a memory subsystem. The memory subsystem may include one or more memory caches and frame buffer logic coupled to external memory (such as a DRAM unit) via an external memory interface. The memory caches, the frame buffer and the external memory store data associated the computations performed by the GPU. The GPU is configured to efficiently process complex graphics and numerical computations.
The external memory interface typically includes a fixed number of pins that determine the amount of DRAM that can be coupled to the frame buffer. For example, a typical external memory interface comprises thirty-two pins; therefore, only one thirty-two pin DRAM unit or two sixteen pin DRAM units can be coupled to the frame buffer via the external memory interface. The pin layout of the external memory interface, thus, limits the amount of DRAM that can be connected to a graphics processing system. Such a constraint results in limited DRAM memory space available to the GPU for storing data, thereby affecting the overall performance of the graphics processing system.
To increase the DRAM memory space available to the GPU, the external memory interface could be modified to include more pins so that more DRAM units could be connected to the graphics processing system. One drawback to such an approach, though, is that adding pins to the external memory interface would make the circuitry of the external memory interface more complex, thus significantly increasing the manufacturing cost of the external memory interface. Another drawback to such an approach is the rigidity in the design of the external memory interface regardless of the DRAM memory space requirements of the system.
As the foregoing illustrates, what is needed in the art is a mechanism for increasing the DRAM memory space available to the GPU for storing data.